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Running, but not barefoot

I got out to go for a run this morning. I figured I'd try going barefoot in the snow that still covered the ground. Well, I barely made it three houses down the street like that. I had read on the Running Barefoot Yahoo! Group that you can use some very minor foot cover (like water shoes or special footwear for barefoot-like running) in such conditions successfully. Figuring I wouldn't be able to hack the snow I had brought along water shoes which helped a lot. I ended up running comfortably for 15 minutes or so (I took a short course to try things out) and found that my feet were a lot warmer than they have been.

I had thrown out the theory that, like the callousing from barefoot running in the first place which seems so counter to "conventional wisdom", that humans might be able to adapt to the cold weather as well. I know this kind of running — well, running in general — does improve foot circulation so it's not out-of-the-question to get to a point where I'm able to run in extremely cold conditions without danger or discomfort.

One thought on “Running, but not barefoot”

I read some of your posts on BarefootRunning, and then skipped to your blog. I am 47. I started running barefoot in June 2007. Just before Christmas I took part in a short "race" arranged at work. 11 km on forest track. It was i -2C (a little below freezing) with just a few mm of snow. I a few places it was wet and muddy. It was no problem at all. I read on the internet that the trick is to flex the toes in the air in every step. That is what I did. The last km I was not doing that and it quickly got colder. (The other runners were about 20 years younger, all running in shoes and ran faster than me. But I was not that much slower and fastest in the barefoot category for sure:-))